BANG BANG BANG: “The Fight Game” Returns, With More Punching Power

Published

10 years ago

September 17, 2014

The re-energized “The Fight Game,” Jim Lampley’s boxing magazine show on HBO, debuted last night (Tuesday, Sept. 16) after I went to bed.

The show, which debuted in May 2012, is still a work in progress, not surprisingly, perhaps, since it ran so intermittently, once every couple months. Now, Lampley tells TSS, the show, a half hour program, will screen once a month, til the end of the year, at least, and that will likely result in a quicker solidification of what works, content-wise, and rhythmically.

The longtime HBO blow by blow caller—-oh, and by the way, might this be an opportune time to ask why this erudite and mindful broadcast lead-dog is not in the International Boxing Hall of Fame? Should that not be rectified, on the next ballot?—kicked things off with a look at the “Cold War.”

Lampley brought us up to speed on the Hatfield/McCoy dynamic which has kept no brainer fights from being made, and HBO and Showtime and Golden Boy and Top Rank squabbling and/or ignoring each other while uber advisor Al Haymon moves his chess pieces in masterful fashion, but in a manner which sometimes benefits a select few over the masses, the masses being us, the boxing fans.

Lampley chatted on the Russell Jr-Lomachenko scrap, and the Bernard Hopkins-Adonis Stevenson-Sergey Kovalev stew, and noted that it’s been a year and a half since a Golden Boy fighter (Hopkins) will appear on HBO. HBO, you’ll recall, quite publicly threw down the gauntlet in March 2013 and went all arctic when they tired of what they perceived was Haymon’s disloyalty, in ushering his guys, after being built up on HBO, over to Showtime for better pay. The host said a “diplomatic thaw” is under way, and he had Oscar and Arum on split screen.

Oscar said it’s up to the promoters to have the best fighting the best, which is what he did when he gloved up. “My philosophy has always been in order to satisfy the millions of fans who love boxing we must set our egos aside and make these big fights happen.” Arum chimed in, “I couldn’t agree more with Oscar.” He called the lack of promotional intermingling a “travesty for boxing.” He said it’s just “idiocy” when one promoter says they won’t deal with another. Arum said he’d like to make a Miguel Cotto vs. Canelo Alvarez fight.

Lampley said that the Haymon presence, lurking, looming, overshadowing, perhaps, is seen as an impediment to peace. He said there’s much evidence to prove Haymon’s hand is causing desirable fights from being made. Oscar said under his leadership “a lot has changed.” That is, without Richard Schaefer around, things have changed. He has talked to Haymon about doing things differently and “he has expressed a lot of interest,” the Hall of Fame fighter said. (Note: A rumor is spreading that Haymon might be doing a mega-deal with NBC for content, so it remains to be seen how his power base will shift, stall or grow in the near future.) Oscar noted that the history between him and Arum is complicated. That it is; they have sparred viciously in the past. http://lat.ms/1qYrtAq

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But to his point—people don’t have to love, or even like each other to do business, and for the fans, which is what Oscar always comes back to, it would be helpful if the memories of these two are short, in this case.

“This will take time..but we will make this happen,” said Oscar on an up note. Arum announced he is looking forward to talking to Oscar later in the week. Solid segment, upbeat, informative, not lacking in gravity.

Next up, Lampley talked about Roc Nation’s entry into our fair sport. Peter Quillin’s career was referenced, and he called Roc’s bid on a Quillin-Korobov an “emphatic overbid.” He raised eyebrows that Quillin, having never been paid more than $500,000 for a fight, turned down the $1.4 million he would have made to fight Korobov. Lampley took aim at Haymon for self-serving steering, looking to match two of his clients, Quillin and Danny Jacobs, instead of doing that Quillin-Korobov bout, with Korobov being a Top Rank/Cameron Dunkin guy. Roc and their leader Jay Z have proven, Lampley said, “that they mean business.” Snappy, pointed, with journalistic chops, with an opinionated and populist edge, I enjoyed the segment. Would Haymon? Not sure, he doesn’t do media, so we can’t get into his head.

Next, Lampley went into Floyd Mayweather and his future. He said after two more fights, Floyd could be a free agent, and nearing 50-0, he might be an even bigger lure to bankrollers/broadcasters. Or maybe not…Lampley insinuated that Mayweather eschews risk to the point that fans really shouldn’t expect him to change that trait. Maybe he’ll fight Manny for win 50…or maybe that will never occur, the host said.

The Fight Game top 5, pound for pound, according to Lampley, who snuck in a Floyd/Fiddy/reading crack: 1) Mayweather; 2) Andre Ward, a choice which engineers message board debate, considering how infrequently Ward fights; 3) Manny Pacquiao; 4) Gennady Golovkin, another choice drawing dissective buzz and 5) Sergey Kovalev, which Lampley allowed might open him up for scorn, should Hopkins show the Russian to be more sizzle than steak on Nov. 8.

Lampley got in some love for HBO stalwarts Kovalev and Golovkin, and snuck in some Occupy type talk, telling us that it is up to US to push, to demand, to see the fights we want to see. He told us that he’d be wearing smart glasses for fights, which will allow us to see through his eyes. I appreciate anyone looking to employ current technology to bring our staid sport up to date, for the record.

Then, Lampley introduced regular Michelle Beadle, an ESPN personality. The un-shy Beadle, for whom my fondness grew when she went against ESPN orders and stirred the pot on Twitter against sometimes blowhard Stephen A. Smith when he stepped in it with statements on domestic abuse, couldn’t manage to caffeinate Terence Crawford. The 140 pound champ, on HBO’s short list of building blocks for the near future, spoke to the ESPNer from his home in Nebraska. I don’t know if Beadle is a boxing fan, but she was well prepared, and her professionalism was obvious. I expect her role to mature and to mesh better when she has a better foil than the soft-spoken Crawford, who is getting used to the glare and stare of us intrusive instigators. I was slightly distracted by Beadle’s face, a pleasant one which suggests Cameron Diaz. She sat with Lampley in the manner in which the reporter gets de-briefed by Bryant Gumble on his “Real Sports” show. This will give her an opportunity to showcase her relatively fearless voice, moving forward. The host took a crack at Mayweather, and his comments re: Ray Rice. Beadle said that she didn’t know how bad Floyd’s track record regarding domestic violence was, that he “beats (women) silly,” and that she doesn’t see him changing his ways.

This segment stood out for me as the most “commercial-ly” of all of them, in my mind. He faces Ray Beltran, on Nov. 29, in Nebraska, and on HBO. Then Beadle took off her gloves—Bang! Bang!—and finished by saying that she thinks Floyd will continue to add to his rap sheet. “Most likely,” said Lampley, in a strong and provocative capper.

The Gatti List came next. Omar Figueroa was the first mentioned who “gives you their moneys worth” win or lose, then Yuriorkis Gamboa, Marcos Maidana, and Evander Holyfield topped this edition.

Max Kellerman joined Lampley, on satellite. They touched on a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight. They now need each other, Max said, because their PPVs are dwindling. “They need each other now, it can happen,” Max said.

What about Andre Ward? Will the fans still care if he keeps staying on the sideline? There’s that risk…but Floyd too knew how to steer his ship. Max thinks Ward has that same confidence and has “star potential.”

And Gennady Golovkin? Max noted that Marvin Hagler had to keep on hammering away against lesser lights before he could lure the Hearns, Durans and Sugar Rays. “Brilliant,” summed up Lampley of Kellerman’s analysis.

In his closing comment, Lampley hammered Mayweather. “If the goal is to push the limits of public taste to the point where the overwhelming preponderance of consumers simply wash their hands and want nothing to do with him or his fights, his blithe comment to the effect that the NFL was over-reacting to a videotape by suspending Ray Rice is probably a pretty good start. And his garbled apology did little to remove the stench. This was the absolute height of heaving a rock out of a glass house, and if he honestly thinks he can offer that kind of love to Rice without offending significant numbers of fans and observers, he’s wrong. The fact is, unbeaten record or not, consummate skill notwithstanding, Floyd Mayweather is often an aggressively distasteful human being whose behaviors are a blight on the boxing landscape. He also said last week that he will retire from the ring at the completion of his six fight CBS/Showtime contract, and in responding to the result of his most recent win, earlier in the show, we ignored that, because it won’t happen. But if it did, no damage would accrue to boxing. Fact is, for the betterment of boxing’s image, Floyd Mayweathers’ retirement cannot come a moment too soon.”

Bang bang.

Want to know what would be interesting? If the CBS deal ends, and HBO signs Floyd to a one fight deal, to fight Pacquiao, and that scathing commentary is still ringing in Floyd’s head.

Theater of the unexpected, the red light district of sport, the very best athletic avenue through which to examine the human animal, that complex and infuriating and evervating and catalyzing and tantalizing character, which I think Lampley is well suited to pore over, and then share his takeaways.

Check back for my debrief with Lampley, which took place on Wednesday late morning.

Follow me on Twitter for boxing news and the occasional broadside at callous titans engaged in public service whose sole mission is to enrich themselves. https://twitter.com/Woodsy1069

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Michael Woods

Lucas Bahdi Forged the TSS 2024 Knockout of the Year

Published

19 hours ago

December 23, 2024

Arne K. Lang

Lucas-Bahdi-Forged-he-RSS-2024-Knockout-of-the-Year

A Knockout of the Year doesn’t have to be a one-punch knockout, but it must arrive with the suddenness of a thunderclap on a clear day and the punch or punches must be so harsh as to obviate the need for a “10-count.” And, if rendered by an underdog, that makes the KO resonate more loudly.

Within these parameters, Lucas Bahdi’s knockout of Ashton “H2O” Sylva still jumped off the page. The thunderclap happened on July 20 in Tampa, Florida, on a show promoted by Jake Paul with Paul and the great Amanda Serrano sharing the bill against soft opponents in the featured bouts.

The 30-year-old Bahdi (16-0, 14 KOs) and the 20-year-old Sylva (11-0, 9 KOs) were both undefeated, but Bahdi was accorded scant chance of defeating Jake Paul’s house fighter.

Sylva was 18 years old and had seven pro fights under his belt, winning all inside the distance, when he signed with Paul’s company, Most Valuable Promotions, in 2022. “We believe that Ashton has that talent, that flashiness, that style, that knockout power, that charisma to really be a massive, massive, superstar…” said the “Problem Child” when announcing that Sylva had signed with his company.

Jake Paul was so confident that his protege would accomplish big things that he matched Sylva with Floyd “Kid Austin” Schofield. Currently 18-0 and ranked #2 by the WBA, Schofield was further along than Sylva in the pantheon of hot lightweight prospects. But Schofield backed out, alleging an injury, opening the door to a substitute.

Enter Lucas Bahdi who despite his eye-catching record was a virtual unknown. This would be his first outing on U.S. soil. All of his previous bouts were staged in Mexico or in Canada, mostly in his native Ontario province. “My opponent may have changed,” said Sylva who hails from Long Beach, California, “but the result will be the same, I will get the W and continue my path to greatness.”

The first five rounds were all Sylva. The Canadian had no antidote for Sylva’s speed and quickness. He was outclassed.

Then, in round six, it all came unglued for the precocious California. Out of the blue, Bahdi stiffened him with a hard right hand. Another right quickly followed, knocking Sylva unconscious. A third punch, a sweeping left, was superfluous. Jake Paul’s phenom was already out cold.

Sylva landed face-first on the canvas. He lay still as his handlers and medics rushed to his aid. It was scarifying. “May God restore him,” said ring announcer Joe Martinez as he was being stretchered out of the ring.

The good news is that Ashton “H2O” Silva will be able to resume his career. He is expected back in the ring as early as February. As for Lucas Bahdi, architect of the Knockout of the Year, he has added one more win to his ledger, winning a 10-round decision on the undercard of the Paul vs Tyson spectacle, and we will presumably be hearing a lot more about him.

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Usyk Outpoints Fury and Itauma has the “Wow Factor” in Riyadh

Published

3 days ago

December 21, 2024

Arne K. Lang

Usyk Outpoints Fury and Itauma has the “Wow Factor” in Riyadh

Oleksandr Usyk left no doubt that he is the best heavyweight of his generation and one of the greatest boxers of all time with a unanimous decision over Tyson Fury tonight at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. But although the Ukrainian won eight rounds on all three scorecards, this was no runaway. To pirate a line from one of the DAZN talking heads, Fury had his moments in every round but Usyk had more moments.

The early rounds were fought at a faster pace than the first meeting back in May. At the mid-point, the fight was even. The next three rounds – the next five to some observers – were all Usyk who threw more punches and landed the cleaner shots.

Fury won the final round in the eyes of this reporter scoring at home, but by then he needed a knockout to pull the match out of the fire.

The last round was an outstanding climax to an entertaining chess match during which both fighters took turns being the pursuer and the pursued.

An Olympic gold medalist and a unified world champion at cruiserweight and heavyweight, the amazing Usyk improved his ledger to 23-0 (14). His next fight, more than likely, will come against the winner of the Feb. 22 match in Ridayh between Daniel Dubois and Joseph Parker which will share the bill with the rematch between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.

Fury (34-2-1) may fight Anthony Joshua next. Regardless, no one wants a piece of Moses Itauma right now although the kid is only 19 years old.

Moses Itauma

Raised in London by a Nigerian father and a Slovakian mother, Itauma turned heads once again with another “wow” performance. None of his last seven opponents lasted beyond the second round.

His opponent tonight, 34-year-old Australian Demsey McKean, lasted less than two minutes. Itauma, a southpaw with blazing fast hands, had the Aussie on the deck twice during the 117-second skirmish. The first knockdown was the result of a cuffing punch that landed high on the head; the second knockdown was produced by an overhand left. McKean went down hard as his chief cornerman bounded on to the ring apron to halt the massacre.

Photo (c): Mark Robinson

Itauma (12-0, 10 KOs after going 20-0 as an amateur) is the real deal. It was the second straight loss for McKean (22-2) who lasted into the 10^th round against Filip Hrgovic in his last start.

Bohachuk-Davis

In a fight billed as the co-main although it preceded Itauma-McKean, Serhii Bohachuk, an LA-based Ukrainian, stopped Ishmael Davis whose corner pulled him out after six frames.

Both fighters were coming off a loss in fights that were close on the scorecards, Bohachuk falling to Vergil Ortiz Jr in a Las Vegas barnburner and Davis losing to Josh Kelly.

Davis, who took the fight on short notice, subbing for Ismail Madrimov, declined to 13-2. He landed a few good shots but was on the canvas in the second round, compliments of a short left hook, and the relentless Bohachuk (25-2, 24 KOs) eventually wore him down.

Fisher-Allen

In a messy, 10-round bar brawl masquerading as a boxing match, Johnny Fisher, the Romford Bull, won a split decision over British countryman David Allen. Two judges favored Fisher by 95-94 tallies with the dissenter favoring Allen 96-93. When the scores were announced, there was a chorus of boos and those watching at home were outraged.

Allen was a step up in class for Fisher. The Doncaster man had a decent record (23-5-2 heading in) and had been routinely matched tough (his former opponents included Dillian Whyte, Luis “King Kong” Ortiz and three former Olympians). But Allen was fairly considered no more than a journeyman and Fisher (12-0 with 11 KOs, eight in the opening round) was a huge favorite.

In round five, Allen had Fisher on the canvas twice although only one was ruled a true knockdown. From that point, he landed the harder shots and, at the final bell, he fell to canvas shedding tears of joy, convinced that he had won.

He did not win, but he exposed Johnny Fisher as a fighter too slow to compete with elite heavyweights, a British version of the ponderous Russian-Canadian campaigner Arslanbek Makhmudov.

Other Bouts of Note

In a spirited 10-round featherweight match, Scotland’s Lee McGregor, a former European bantamweight champion and stablemate of former unified 140-pound title-holder Josh Taylor, advanced to 15-1-1 (11) with a unanimous decision over Isaac Lowe (25-3-3). The judges had it 96-92 and 97-91 twice.

A cousin and regular houseguest of Tyson Fury, Lowe fought most of the fight with cuts around both eyes and was twice deducted a point for losing his gumshield.

In a fight between super featherweights that could have gone either way, Liverpool southpaw Peter McGrail improved to 11-1 (6) with a 10-round unanimous decision over late sub Rhys Edwards. The judges had it 96-95 and 96-94 twice.

McGrail, a Tokyo Olympian and 2018 Commonwealth Games gold medalist, fought from the third round on with a cut above his right eye, the result of an accidental clash of heads. It was the first loss for Edwards (16-1), a 24-year-old Welshman who has another fight booked in three weeks.

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Fury-Usyk Reignited: Can the Gypsy King Avenge his Lone Defeat?

Published

4 days ago

December 20, 2024

Arne K. Lang

Fury-Usyk-Reignated-Can-the-Gypsy-King-Avenge-His-Londe-Defeat?

Fury-Usyk Reignited: Can the Gypsy King Avenge his Lone Defeat?

In professional boxing, the heavyweight division, going back to the days of John L. Sullivan, is the straw that stirs the drink. By this measure, the fight on May 18 of this year at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was the biggest prizefight in decades. The winner would emerge as the first undisputed heavyweight champion since 1999 when Lennox Lewis out-pointed Evander Holyfield in their second meeting.

The match did not disappoint. It had several twists and turns.

Usyk did well in the early rounds, but the Gypsy King rattled Usyk with a harsh right hand in the fifth stanza and won rounds five through seven on all three cards. In the ninth, the match turned sharply in favor of the Ukrainian. Fury was saved by the bell after taking a barrage of unanswered punches, the last of which dictated a standing 8-count from referee Mark Nelson. But Fury weathered the storm and with his amazing powers of recuperation had a shade the best of it in the final stanza.

The decision was split: 115-112 and 114-113 for Usyk who became a unified champion in a second weight class; 114-113 for Fury.

That brings us to tomorrow (Saturday, Dec. 21) where Usyk and Fury will renew acquaintances in the same ring where they had their May 18 showdown.

The first fight was a near “pick-‘em” affair with Fury closing a very short favorite at most of the major bookmaking establishments. The Gypsy King would have been a somewhat higher favorite if not for the fact that he was coming off a poor showing against MMA star Francis Ngannou and had a worrisome propensity for getting cut. (A cut above Fury’s right eye in sparring pushed back the fight from its original Feb. 11 date.)

Tomorrow’s sequel, bearing the tagline “Reignited,” finds Usyk a consensus 7/5 favorite although those odds could shorten by post time. (There was no discernible activity after today’s weigh-in where Fury, fully clothed, topped the scales at 281, an increase of 19 pounds over their first meeting.)

Given the politics of boxing, anything “undisputed” is fragile. In June, Usyk abandoned his IBF belt and the organization anointed Daniel Dubois their heavyweight champion based upon Dubois’s eighth-round stoppage of Filip Hrgovic in a bout billed for the IBF interim title. The malodorous WBA, a festering boil on the backside of boxing, now recognizes 43-year-old Kubrat Pulev as its “regular” heavyweight champion.

Another difference between tomorrow’s fight card and the first installment is that the May 18 affair had a much stronger undercard. Two strong pairings were the rematch between cruiserweights Jai Opetaia and Maris Briedis (Opetaia UD 12) and the heavyweight contest between unbeatens Agit Kabayal and Frank Sanchez (Kabayel KO 7).

Tomorrow’s semi-wind-up between Serhii Bohachuk and Ismail Madrimov lost luster when Madrimov came down with bronchitis and had to withdraw. The featherweight contest between Peter McGrail and Dennis McCann fell out when McCann’s VADA test returned an adverse finding. Bohachuk and McGrail remain on the card but against late-sub opponents in matches that are less intriguing.

The focal points of tomorrow’s undercard are the bouts involving undefeated British heavyweights Moses Itauma (10-0, 8 KOs) and Johnny Fisher (12-0, 11 KOs). Both are heavy favorites over their respective opponents but bear watching because they represent the next generation of heavyweight standouts. Fury and Usyk are getting long in the tooth. The Gypsy King is 36; Usyk turns 38 next month.

Bob Arum once said that nobody purchases a pay-per-view for the undercard and, years from now, no one will remember which sanctioning bodies had their fingers in the pie. So, Fury-Usyk II remains a very big deal, although a wee bit less compelling than their first go-around.

Will Tyson Fury avenge his lone defeat? Turki Alalshikh, the Chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority and the unofficial czar of “major league” boxing, certainly hopes so. His Excellency has made known that he stands poised to manufacture a rubber match if Tyson prevails.

We could have already figured this out, but Alalshikh violated one of the protocols of boxing when he came flat out and said so. He effectively made Tyson Fury the “A-side,” no small potatoes considering that the most relevant variable on the checklist when handicapping a fight is, “Who does the promoter need?”

The Uzyk-Fury II fight card will air on DAZN with a suggested list price of $39.99 for U.S. fight fans. The main event is expected to start about 5:45 pm ET / 2:45 pm PT.

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